1. Field of the Invention
The invention is concerned with the art of forming a beaded radial ply tire and more particularly is concerned with an improved apparatus for forming such a tire wherein the radial plies of the tire extend about the bead regions of the tire and have end portions which are doubled back at the beads and terminated at inner portions of the sidewalls.
2. Prior Art
The prior art and in particular U.S. Pat. No. 3,431,963 discloses beaded radial ply tires, the plies of which extend about the bead regions of the tire and have end portions which are doubled back at the beads and terminated at inner portions of the side walls. A number of advantages of such tires are set out in the aforementioned patent. The prior art, as taught for example in U.S. Pat. No. 1,248,871, discloses means for wrapping plies radially about a tire core. In such an apparatus the tire must be formed in the shape of a donut about the core and in order to remove the core from the tire, the tire must be cut between the beads thereof and then be stripped off the core. The plies of such a tire are therefore not doubled back at their end about the beads and terminated at inner portions of the side walls thus providing added sidewall strength and other advantages as mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 3,431,963 to the tire.
In present day application tires are expected to carry heavy loads and to operate at relatively high speeds and in relatively high shock conditions as may occur on poorly kept up roads and under off-highway conditions. Thus, strengthening of the sidewall portion of the tire is quite important. Also, it is highly desirable to provide in a single operation a usable beaded radial ply tire wherein the apparatus for forming such a tire can be quickly and easily removed for reuse in the formation of other tires thus increasing tire production rates. It is also desirable to form radial plies by wrapping wire directly around a tire thus insuring uniformity of the resulting ply and eliminating the chance for ply damage prior to installation of a complete radial ply about a tire. The present invention is particularly concerned with an apparatus for accomplishing the above set out desirable objectives.